How I Make $1.2 Million A Year From This Podcast | E94

Steven Bartlett’s Podcast Business Playbook

Steven Bartlett explains how he built The Diary of a CEO from a solo audio experiment into a multimillion-dollar podcast business. His key lessons: publish consistently, create ways to reach new audiences, protect quality, and approach aligned brands directly for sponsorships.

Strategy and growth

• Publish consistently. After years of irregular releases, Bartlett committed to publishing every Monday. He says listener growth increased 10× once the show became consistent.
• Build an audience habit. Episodes go live on Mondays at 7 a.m., a time chosen to fit listeners’ weekly routines. Bartlett estimates that roughly 50% of podcast listening happens in transit.
• Use guests to reach new audiences. The show evolved from solo reflections to conversations with entrepreneurs and other guests, who bring their own audiences. Interviews also reduced production time: solo episodes could take 7–8 hours to plan and write, while a guest conversation took about two hours to record.
• Promote beyond podcast apps. Bartlett estimates that over 95% of discovery for new podcasts happens outside Spotify and Apple Podcasts, through social networks, messaging groups, word of mouth, and platforms such as YouTube. The show uses video clips and YouTube recommendations to attract new listeners.
• Maintain a quality bar. Bartlett says the team has scrapped three or four episodes out of nearly 100 when conversations lacked insight or value, including one featuring a major celebrity. He sees this as essential to protecting listener trust and raising standards.

Operations and investment

The podcast began as a low-cost project: Bartlett recorded alone using a £90 microphone and a laptop, and edited the audio himself.

When he decided to produce weekly video episodes, his initial equipment budget was about £4,000. He asked producer Jack Sylvester to propose a more ambitious setup, resulting in an investment of about £40,000 (approximately $55,000) for multiple cameras, audio equipment, and lighting.

Bartlett describes an eight-person team working across production, guest booking, PR and video assets, social media, sponsorships, management, and scheduling. He emphasizes that podcasting can still be started cheaply; the larger studio and team reflected his ambitions, not a requirement for getting started.

Monetization and sponsorships

Bartlett says conventional podcast advertising—often priced per download and arranged through intermediaries—would not cover the production costs he wanted. He cites a common rate of $25–$50 per 1,000 downloads. At 100,000 downloads, that would generate roughly $2,500–$5,000 per episode, before an intermediary’s cut.

Instead, he approached brands directly:

1. He listed companies he genuinely used and whose missions he supported.
2. He prepared a short pitch deck showing audience growth and his plans.
3. He contacted the companies’ CEOs or marketing leaders directly.
4. He described his existing relationship with the products and made an ambitious case for the show’s growth.

Bartlett says all five companies he initially contacted responded. Huel, Fiverr, and myenergi became key sponsors. He says sponsors do not dictate his wording, helping preserve authenticity and editorial independence.

He negotiated 12-month sponsorship contracts to support planning and forecasting. He also describes additional brand collaborations happening roughly once every other month.

Bartlett reports that the podcast would generate more than $1.2 million in the year discussed, or just over $100,000 per month. He says it remains his lowest financial return relative to the time he personally spends on it, but he continues because he enjoys the work.

Other business and leadership lessons

• Treat quality as part of the product. Bartlett says the host and team owe listeners a valuable use of their time, so audience trust matters more than the reach a famous guest might bring.
• Protect autonomy. Sponsor freedom to speak in his own words helps him maintain motivation and enjoy the work.
• Measure impact, not just reach. Four short viral videos averaged about 10 million views each, with individual totals ranging from 3 million to 33 million. Bartlett says the podcast’s audience was smaller but responded more deeply: listeners were more likely to discuss episodes with him in person and send detailed messages.
• Use content creation as deliberate practice. Regular production helped him improve his communication, on-camera presentation, and confidence—skills he considers useful in business and sales.
• Reflect to improve. Bartlett recommends journaling and reviewing experiences to build self-awareness and learn more from the same events.
• Build on audience and relationships. The podcast strengthened Bartlett’s relationships with guests and expanded his professional network. The brand also launched a live event that sold out Manchester’s Albert Hall, with thousands attending, and planned a tour across five UK cities.

Presenter and people cited

• Presenter: Steven Bartlett
• People and organizations: Jack Sylvester, Harry, Emma Berta, Callum, Grace, Don, Sophie, Julian Hearn and Huel, Fiverr, Jordan Brampton and myenergi